New York Knicks vs. Orlando Magic: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/7/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Amway Center, Orlando, FL

Where to watch: BSFL, MSG

DraftKings: Knicks -2

FanDuel: Knicks -1.5

BetMGM: Knicks -1.5

Caesars: Knicks -1.5

Knicks: 29-26

Magic: 22-32

The All-Stars have been announced, the trade deadline is days away, and the NBA season has never seen so much parity and intrigue than it has at this moment. All you need to do is look at the Western Conference and laugh with a hearty burst at how ridiculous this season has been. You know what's not ridiculous? Our champion handicappers continuing to kill it on the NBA level over the last 30 days. All you need to do is take one look at what they're doing and see that this is the place to be as we purge through the second half of the season. Doc's Sports has been tremendous over the last month with a 17-8-0 run and net profit of $8,100. Team Del Genio has also been very good at an 11-6-1 run that has made for some very exciting runs near to the top. Basketball is taking full swing with football about to be set on the back burner, and you want to be locked in at bigal.com. Take advantage of our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what our champion handicappers bring to the table. Make sure you're following winners at bigal.com and get that same kind of money in your pocket.

Knicks: won 108-97 vs. 76ers

Magic: won 119-113 at Hornets

The New York Knicks are such a weird team to me that I have no idea what version of them we are going to get on any given game day. They can lose to the Brooklyn Nets who have literally no one in one game and then come back a week later and get wins at home over the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers. I have no idea which way this team is leaning heading into this game on Tuesday against the Orlando Magic, but it is going to be rather interesting to watch.

 

Do I think the Knicks are good? Yes I do. Do I think they could be a legitimate playoff threat this year? Yes in a sense I do. But the inconsistency this season to the point where they should not be a 500 team really baffles me. And you look at these results after beating the 76ers 108-97 on Sunday and you're trying to figure out how in the world did it actually happen? Joel Embiid got his 31 points and 14 rebounds, all five starters were Philadelphia scored in double figures. So how exactly did this happen?

 

Because Julius Randle was held to just 24 points on 8 of 19 shooting and jalen Brunson was held to 21 points on six of 16 shooting. You put all of that together and you realized that there was absolutely no way in the world that New York should have played as well enough defense to hold Philadelphia to 40.5% shooting and just seven of 25 from 3 point range. The Sixers even got to the free throw line 36 times and made thirty of them. That was two more than the Knicks made despite getting to the free throw line 39 times.

 

“It was great,” Randle said. “I think the biggest difference between last night and tonight, where I thought we could have won, was tonight it was our defense.”

 

And yet here are the necks being efficient and winning in a myriad of ways which suddenly includes defense on random nights. We don't need to look at the 134 points they gave up to the Los Angeles Clippers on February 4th. And the fact that they were able to hold the Sixers to 97 points the very next night is one more reason why this sport is insane sometimes.

 

Now about good old Orlando. About three wins in four games for the upstart magic who are now just ten games below 500 which in any given instance is a solid victory for this franchise that has just sunk rock bottom for the last number of years. Paolo Banchero did his thing again with 22 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out minus this. He shot 6 of 20 from the floor but made-up for it by making ten of his 11 free throw attempts, so at least the rookie made an impact in other ways. Wendell Carter also had a double double of 20 points and 12 rebounds while making seven of twelve shots, and Markelle Fultz had 16 points to go along with five assists.

 

“It shows our resilience and that we can go out and compete with some of the best teams in the league,” Carter said of the road trip, which included wins at Philadelphia and Minnesota.

 

The under is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings and if recent history is of any indication, that is going to favor the decks. It would be good for the league if Orlando found a way to knock off a playoff team at the moment, but the way Orlando is still learning the curve. Knicks 110, Magic 102

Knicks are 16-9 ATS on the road this season.

Knicks are 18-7 ATS on Tuesday the last 3 seasons.

Magic are 12-4 ATS off an upset win this season.

Magic are 8-0 ATS after a win by 6 or less this season.

PG: Jalen Brunson

SG: Quentin Grimes

SF: RJ Barrett

PF: Julius Randle

C: Jericho Sims

PG: Markelle Fultz

SG: Gary Harris

SF: Franz Wagner

PF: Paolo Banchero

C: Wendell Carter Jr.

Injury report

Knicks: RJ Barrett (illness, questionable), Mitchell Robinson (thumb, out)

Magic: Jalen Suggs (suspended), Mo Bamba (suspended)

Points: Julius Randle -- 24.7

Rebounds: Julius Randle -- 10.8

Assists: Jalen Brunson -- 6.2

Points: Paolo Banchero -- 20.5

Rebounds: Wendell Carter Jr. -- 8.7

Assists: Markelle Fultz -- 5.6